There is no light without the dark. The brighter the light, the darker is the shadow it casts.

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I walked the corridors late that night, shirtless and wings unfurled, my vampire purred at being allowed to stretch out.

While pondering Luna's prediction, I slowly made my way up to the Astronomy Tower.

As I stepped into a pool of moonlight, I wondered about light versus dark.

Without the light, there was no way to distinguish darkness from anything else. Without the darkness, there is no way not to be blinded by the light. By themselves light and dark on their own would be nothing, but together they created a balance of coexistence.

Thinking about the war, I realized that because Dumbledore thought he did everything in the name of the Light, he had created an unfathomable Darkness - Tom and myself.

If Dumbledore hadn't tried to manipulate either of us, then we could have turned out completely different. If he had removed us from our terrible living conditions, at least before we became too bitter and cynical, he could've possibly stopped this entire thing.

Although perhaps it was on purpose with Tom? Perhaps he wanted to create a new darkness to vanquish; perhaps Grindelwald hadn't been enough power. Being Minister of Magic would get him too far away from manipulating things, but as a Headmaster, he could not only be in the thick of it, he could influence young children's minds, and in essence, influence the future in his favor.

If I followed this theory, there were many different outcomes, but one that caught my attention was how I fit in. He was gearing up to bring the Dark Lord, but couldn't do it himself; maybe he really is getting too old. So he decided to make a fake prophecy, and become the puppet master behind the Savior, and in the end get all the credit as his closest mentor. He leaked it out to Severus, and switched the Secret Keepers, and was gifted a young, powerful boy.

Perhaps he knew I was the heir to the Underworld, or maybe not, but in any case he left me in the hands of my relatives.

When I was rescued from that awful place, I would be too amazed by the magical world. Too relieved to be away, too grateful to Dumbledore for saving me, to see through the farce.

That was a huge gamble for him though.

I was calm enough, thinking this over, when another thought struck me.

I had to hold back a snarl. That would make my entire life a lie, and everything was manipulated by Dumbledore, not Fate. What if Sirius hadn't been saved by Remus after getting hit with Bellatrix's stunner? The shaky werewolf had told me afterwards that the whispering Veil was a one-way ticket to death. If Sirius had died, there would be no force in the world to stop me from ripping into Dumbledore and feeding him his own insides.

Stomping the last few steps up the tower, I took off, pumping my wings and soaring up towards the moon, and let those thoughts drift away, at least for now.

Moonlight was the only kind of light I liked in my life anymore. The sun felt nice, until it began to burn you, scorch you, hurt you. Moonlight, though, was the reflection of the sun's light, and held no warmth. Yet, even without warmth, it was comforting, and showed you the way.

Flying above the Forbidden Forest, the thestrals rose to join me. Some of the young ones, that had just begun to fly, were nipping at each other and playing.

I would find out what happened, and to make Dumbledore pay.

But first, I needed more support.

it's short, i know....but bear with me. as someone said in a review, i seem to be on a sugar high when writing these chapters (my weakness...reigning myself in. -le sigh- ). and, plus, it sets up some stuff. ;) anyone want to take a guess?

and, no offense to any of my readers, but to those of you who write reviews like "this is good. update soon," don't even bother. please. it's actually disheartening to read those; i'd like to hear how into my story you are. maybe i'm weird, but my reviews are always either talking to the characters or some such. like "WTF TOM! why the fuck won't you shag Harry you douche?! you know you want him! stupid Dark Lords...and Harry shouldn't give up dammit!" anyways.... /rant

once again, a HUGE thanks to ALx (AnimaLynx) for being my beta...trust me, this chapter had an enormous flaw that leaves me hanging my head in shame.

review, please! tell me what you think!
~OxyG